TJ’s Insights

It’s not uncommon these days for corporate CEOs or political leaders to cancel a speech or TV interview if unpleasant news has happened in the previous 48 hours, or if a chilly reception is expected from the audience. This way, the thinking goes, the leader under distress won’t make matters worse by making himself or herself an easy target for enemies.

Wrong!

In this era of instant blogging, posting, and audience feedback at every level, I think it’s a huge mistake for leaders to attempt to control their public image by limiting their access to audiences and tough questions.

Very few people actually think of themselves a as a crashing bore, but a very high percentage of people temporarily become huge bores when they give a speech.

And everyone always has a good reason.

“But it’s a lot of technical information I have to get out.”

“For legal reasons I have to say things in a straightforward way.”

“My boss wants me to stick to the script.”

“My audience is highly sophisticated and they really want me to drill deep into the details and all the numbers.”

“I’d like to show my personality, but the PowerPoint scripts have me handcuffed.”

1 What are the top concerns of your audience?

2 What are your handful of key messages?

3 What is your water cooler message? (This is NOT the same as #2)

4 Do you have a real story involving a real person, place and problem that brings to life each key point?

5 What exactly do you want audience members to do after they hear you speak?

6 What is the desired outcome from your speech?

7 Do you have a simple, one-page outline for your presentation?

8 Have you rehearsed your speech out loud (and preferably recorded in video)?

It’s only natural to try to make the person you are talking to happy or satisfied, but if the individual in front of you is a professional comedian and satirist, be careful!!!

Representative Robert Wexler, (D-FL), is a skilled media operator who has logged thousands of hours on the cable news networks (admirably in my view), but he let Steve Colbert of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report get the better of him in July 2006. Colbert asked Wexler to finish a sentence on camera:

Colbert, “I enjoy cocaine because.”

Wexler (taking the bait) “I enjoy cocaine because it’s a fun thing to do.”

A general axiom you see in many books about being a good conversationalist is to let the other person do all of the talking. Most people, the theory goes, are egotists and love nothing more than blathering on about themselves for an hour at a time.

I’m not so sure about this. The problem with just sitting back and asking questions of your conversation partner is that sooner or later, this person will feel like you are interviewing him or her. Suddenly, everything becomes uncomfortable again. You are instantly put into one of two positions 1. The fawning reporter at People magazine interviewing the big star or 2. The powerful employer interviewing the meek and unemployed job prospect. Neither one is a role you want to play during a
conversation because they suggest a power inequality.

Sooner or later, at some point during a business person’s career, he or she can’t resist the temptation to sound important when giving a speech. Typically, this means the speaker has to talk about “big picture” concepts like “value added,” “enhanced productivity,” and of course all aspects of “strategy” (strategic, strategically, etc).

The problem, of course, is that there is a better than even chances that your audience has no idea what in the world you are talking about once you start tossing around general abstractions. The key to good speaking, even motivational speaking, is to be specific.

Anytime someone is speaking, he or she needs to be aware of the power of negativity, whether speaking to an audience of 10,000 or to yourself while waiting in a line at the airport. In a sense, all speakers are motivational, most just don’t know it.

A speaker can motivate an audience to engage and learn more about a subject, or to tune out, or to be just plain grumpy. The power of positive messages already gets a lot of attention, but not as much goes to the destructive power of negative messages.

Every industry and corporation eventually gets infected with its own buzz words and jargon. There’s nothing wrong with using initials, acronyms, and jargon, per se. In fact, among a community of like-minded people, language is and should be robust. Change is inevitable in language, and usually a good thing.

But…

One trend I’ve noticed is the use of initials that don’t replace syllables or the time it takes to say a phrase. For example, when I am in Southeast Asia, business people refer to “PPTs” and “PPT slides.” I scratched my head the first time I heard this, but then I realized they were referring to PowerPoints and PowerPoint slides. The only problem is that saying “PPTs” takes three syllables. But saying “PowerPoint” also takes only three syllables.

When given a choice of when you can give a presentation at a conference or trade event, my recommendation is to opt for speaking first. As the first speaker, you can set the tone. You don’t have to worry about repeating what anyone else says. Your audience is likely to be fresher. Other speakers who cover the same ground as you will be seen as copying you, rather that vice versa.

But much of the time you won’t get to go first, so here are a few tips to maximize your performance.

Most celebrity speakers rake in the big bucks on the speaking circuit primarily because they are known for something else, like being a TV star, professional athlete, or well-known entertainer. Zig Ziglar earned his spot in the pantheon of speakers the old-fashioned way—he earned it the hard way, making one speech at a time. True, Ziglar has had some bestselling books, and he does own a successful training company. But first and foremost, he is a motivational speaker.